Hodgson: Stoke Will Be Firing On All Cylinders

3 May 2018

This weekend’s final away match of the season at Stoke City sees Palace’s squad looking to get enough from the game to win their battle against relegation as they go into the lunchtime kick-off on Saturday against all the odds in a mid-table position with two matches to play.

Roy Hodgson watched his side win by the biggest margin of their Premier League history last Saturday against Leicester and he is looking at that to continue this weekend in the Potteries against Paul Lambert’s side

"I have every faith in them to make certain that they don’t show any signs of having already done the job because these two matches are important for everybody and not least of all the integrity of the league as we are playing certainly one team that still have big hopes of survival themselves.

"I am 100% convinced that Stoke won’t have accepted their fate as yet and are capable of getting 36 points and those games are against two relegation rivals, Crystal Palace and Swansea so we know they will be absolutely desperate to win the game in front of their own fans and will do everything in their power to win it.

"So if we are going to halt that then we are going to have to play as well as we have done in some of the games recently."

Palace have won six of their nine Premier League meetings against Stoke City but even though it is clear how desperate the three points are for the home side Hodgson says this type of game is not un-familiar in the top flight and his side will need to be ready for all that you would expect from a match of this importance.

"It is quite a normal occurrence in the Premier League because there are many games in the season where you go to play teams where they may be in danger of missing out on a Champions League spot or in danger of dropping into a relegation position they don’t want to be in. So quite a lot of games we play have a certain amount of desperation in the way they need to be played and we would be very foolish if we had not prepared for a Stoke City team that will be really firing on all cylinders, working incredibly hard and giving every ounce of energy they can give and will be backed by a very vocal and supportive crowd."